I got the message an update was available. Started the update process after getting the message. When cursor was restarting received an error message that something went wrong.
After that starting cursor makes windows say the shortcut doesn’t exist anymore, and i can not boot cursor anymore. It still appears in the installed apps but shows as broken.
Steps to Reproduce
I don’t know.
i just pressed “install update” in the small dialogue box.
Expected Behavior
That it installed
Operating System
Windows 10/11
Version Information
Can’t update now because cursor doesn’t start.
Additional Information
This ticket probably won’t help at all in solving any issues.
But I did want to mention it at least.
I was just working normally and had a small break, so I thought I would update real quick.
I will set the next question to ‘unusable’ but will reinstall cursor from a new download.
Hey, thanks for the report. This is a known issue with the auto-updater on Windows. During an update, the old install gets removed before the new one is in place. If the install step fails, for example due to a restart or shutdown during the update, antivirus or EDR holding files, or running processes like node.exe, there’s no rollback. You’re left with a broken shortcut and an app that shows as installed but won’t launch. We’re tracking the issue, but I can’t share an ETA for a fix yet.
Recovery, you’re already on the right track:
Just reinstall using the latest installer from Cursor · Download. Your settings and extensions will stay. They live in %APPDATA%\Cursor and %USERPROFILE%\.cursor. Only the binary is missing.
To prevent it from happening again:
Settings → search for update.mode → set it to none and update manually.
Before restarting or shutting down Windows, fully quit Cursor, including the tray icon.
If you use antivirus or endpoint protection, add an exclusion for the install folder %LOCALAPPDATA%\Programs\cursor.
Let me know if anything still looks off after reinstalling.